Frayed Threads
by Nemesis dan Impyrean
Summary: Hiro invents a device that will let him travel through time! Unfortunately, it malfunctions, sending his mind back to when he was born. His old life cast away and a new one waiting, Hiro has only one goal in mind - to save Tadashi. He suffers twelve years of old wounds and losses, remembering once more why he loves Tadashi. And why he will keep his older brother alive at any cost.


"This is so boring…" the boy complained, sipping from his cup.

The four people around him sighed.

"Hiro, you've got to stop looking for trouble," Honey Lemon commented.

He looked up, offended. "I don't go looking for trouble!" he protested.

Go Go glanced at him. She popped her bubblegum, saying, "You do."

Wasabi laughed nervously. "It's kinda obvious," he added.

Hiro looked at Fred. The guy held up his hands. "Hey, for the record, I'm totally up for superhero stuff… just not looking-for-trouble stuff. Unless it involves fire-breathing lizards. Then I'm game!"

Hiro threw up his hands in frustration, running one through his messy hair. "Fine, fine," he grumbled, pushing away from the table. "I'm gonna do some homework."

The boy weaved through the crowd, climbing the stairs to his bedroom. Closing and locking the door, he collapsed into his chair, groaning.

"I do NOT go looking for trouble," he complained into the backrest. Then he flipped over, eyeing the compacted Baymax in his charging port. He hesitated, then decided against inflating the robot, turning to his computer.

He grinned as he pulled up his latest project, letting the 3-D model rotate a few times. Flipping through various motions, Hiro decided he was satisfied with the outcome. He pulled out the flash drive it had been stored in, tucking it into his jacket pocket. He made a copy, storing it into the hard-drive… just in case. Then he pushed away from the table, going to his desk.

"Okay," he said, grinning. He plugged the flash drive into a machine, letting it construct the item. When it was done, he pulled it out happily. It was a small ring that glinted a silvery-grey. Hiro put it on, grinning.

"Hiro!" Wasabi called out from the bottom of the stairs. "What's taking you so long?" The boy jumped, startled. In the process the ring slipped off his finger.

It hit the floor, cracking, a bright light flashing out from the nick. Hiro cried out, throwing his hands out in front of him.

When the light faded he was gone.

* * *

"Nice to meet you! I'm your new brother, Hiro!" the woman said cheerfully, holding the baby boy up to the child standing beside her bed. He wore a look of awe and excitement as he looked down at Hiro.

Beside him, the father grinned. "He's adorable," the man said fondly.

The mother laughed. "He is!" She smiled down at the two boys. "You two get along, alright?" she said, her voice mock-stern.

Tadashi held up his arms. "Can I hold him?" he asked excitedly. His mother shook her head. "You might drop him," she reminded him gently.

Tadashi blinked, then smiled sheepishly. "Right." He looked down at Hiro again, still eager. He couldn't wait for his little brother to grow up. They could play together, and learn together! And he could help Hiro whenever he needed it! Tadashi was excited as he imagined being a big brother.

* * *

"Tadashi, wake up."

The boy groaned, batting away the small hands tugging on his shirt. "What is it?" he asked finally, looking at the child beside his bed.

Hiro was only three at the time, and still very small. But his dark eyes were big as he said softly, "Mom and Dad…"

A man entered the room. Tadashi sat upright, wary of the stranger. "What's going on?" he demanded, pulling Hiro gently towards him. The man seemed fidgety as he said to the boy, "I'm here to inform you that your parents have died in a car accident."

Tadashi froze. "What?"

"Mom and Dad are gone," Hiro said softly. He looked up at Tadashi. "Mister says we're going to live with Aunt Cass now."

"That you are," the man said, clearly uncomfortable. "I'll leave you to packing some things, and, of course, we've arranged for your needs to be taken care of as you move."

He turned and left.

Tadashi didn't know what to do. His parents were dead? They… died?

"Tadashi."

He breathed heavily.

"Tadashi."

They were gone.

"Tadashi…" Hiro was looking up at Tadashi. His face was contorted, silent tears running down his cheeks. His nose was dripping too, and his hand was shaking as he clutched Tadashi's shirt.

"Tadashi, I'm sorry. I didn't remember… I couldn't save them…"

The older boy immediately felt bad, hugging Hiro tightly. "It's not your fault. Don't worry, I'm here," he said firmly. He bit his lip, closing his eyes as his own tears fell.

"It's okay," Tadashi told Hiro softly. "I'm here."

* * *

"Don't think you're so special just because you're a little smarter than us, okay?!"

"Stupid loser!"

"You're so annoying! What a wuss!"

Tadashi paused, looking around. What he saw made him shocked. "Knock it off!" he shouted, running towards the group of kids. They saw him and scattered, leaving Hiro on the ground alone. Tadashi helped his little brother up gently.

"Are you okay?" he asked, worried.

Hiro looked up, covered in scrapes with bruises already forming. "Wha…" He smiled shakily. "Hey, Tadashi. What's wrong?"

Tadashi frowned. "What's wrong…? Hiro, they were…"

"Oh! That was just a little fight," Hiro said. "Nothing to worry about," he added.

His older brother looked at him with traces of horror, as well as concern. Finally Tadashi said, "Alright, well… let's get you fixed up, okay?"

Hiro blinked. "Alright."

As Tadashi applied the alcohol and bandages, he asked, "Why were they doing that?"

The younger of the two was silent for a moment before he answered, "They didn't like how much attention I got from the teachers." Hiro winced as Tadashi dabbed one particularly nasty scrape with an alcohol-soaked cotton ball.

"Sorry," Hiro added after a moment. "I didn't mean to cause you trouble."

Tadashi rolled his eyes. "It's fine. I'll always be here, remember?"

Hiro looked at him. "...Promise?"

Tadashi grinned. "Promise!"

* * *

"Callaghan's in there," Tadashi said desperately to his little brother. "Someone has to help." He turned, starting to pull his arm out of Hiro's grasp - when suddenly he felt the boy grab with both hands, causing Tadashi to tumble to the ground.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, struggling to get to his feet.

Hiro wouldn't let go. The boy looked determined.

Moments later the school's entrance exploded into flames. Tadashi stared, wide-eyed, at the destruction.

He couldn't save Callaghan… but, he was also smart enough to realize Hiro had just saved his life. Suddenly Tadashi's younger brother let go. Tadashi stumbled, off-balance as he began to feel the side-effects of the blast.

"Wait," he said, reaching out for his younger brother.

Hiro glanced back at him. "You're still here," he thought he heard Hiro whisper, before Tadashi's world turned white with pain.

When he came to, he was in the bedroom he and Hiro shared. Hiro sat across the room, tapping away at his keyboard. "Is that how you show your concern?" he teased. The boy's typing paused as Hiro said, "It's your fault we were there in the first place."

Tadashi frowned. "Hey, I'm sorry…" he tried, but Hiro interrupted, "You should be. Why would you do something so reckless?"

Tadashi was speechless for a moment. Before he could recover Hiro said, "No… I'm sorry. I was just so scared for you…" The boy stopped, his eyes wet.

Tadashi felt bad. He got up slowly, coming over to the boy and hugging him.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Hiro smiled up at him innocently. "Aunt Cass! Tadashi's up!" Tadashi suddenly understood Hiro's angel-like expression as Aunt Cass barrelled up the stairs, instantly smothering him.

"I'm fine!" Tadashi said, laughing. He looked over her shoulder to shoot Hiro a 'why would you do this to me?' look, but his little brother had turned away.

During the next few days, Tadashi gradually thought Hiro's actions were odd. One moment the boy would act like his usual self, smart-aleck mouth and mischief, and the next moment Hiro would ignore everyone unless they spoke directly to him. At first, Tadashi thought Hiro was shocked by Tadashi's near-death. After a while, Tadashi realized that didn't add up.

"Hiro," Tadashi greeted the boy.

"Mm," Hiro responded vaguely, clicking his computer's mouse.

Tadashi sighed as he prompted, "We're gonna be late for school. Come on."

Hiro waved a hand. "I finished today's curriculum already, you go on without me."

His older brother sighed. "Seriously?" He glanced at his brother's profile before leaving the room.

Hiro paused, glancing behind him. "...It hurts," he whispered, his voice breaking. "Tadashi…" The boy inhaled, focusing on his computer.

Already Professor Callaghan's plans were moving on, judging from the reports of 'a mysterious figure at the bay' as well as 'strange sounds at a warehouse.'

Hiro closed his browser.

"Like I care," he muttered to himself. Hiro stood, glancing out the window, recalling the time when he'd panicked to see the marshmallow-like figure wandering out into the traffic. That same robot was still at Tadashi's dorm - because nothing had to be moved out and into their house.

Because this time, Hiro made sure Tadashi didn't die.

He hadn't intended to time travel this way… twelve tedious years of being treated like a child were worth saving Tadashi, though.

He did feel rather bad that Abigail would never be saved… but in the end, she wasn't who he was here for. Hiro went back to his computer. Better to keep up the charade of being a teenager. He pulled up a bot fight webpage, a grin playing across his lips as he noticed there was one happening soon.

Hiro grabbed his little 'Megabot' and turned - only to come face to face with Tadashi. Hiro didn't bother trying to hide his bot. He knew Tadashi had definitely seen it already.

"Bot-fighting again?" Tadashi said, exasperated. Hiro gave a noncommittal shrug. "Hey, I can still make it." His tone wasn't quite as confident or reckless as he would've hoped, but judging from Tadashi's reaction the older brother clearly hadn't noticed. "But you finally got into the school and I…"

"Hoped I'd stop," Hiro finished. He realized his mistake when Tadashi wore a startled expression. His voice had slipped back into his old one. The one where he was a confident, albeit still teenaged, leader. Hiro kept forgetting right now, he was a boy.

Pulling the smile back on his face he told Tadashi, "Come on! It's so much fun! I don't even bet on the fights anymore."

Then he frowned, realizing something. "Shouldn't you be at school?" Tadashi rolled his eyes. "It's noon already, knucklehead." Hiro glanced at the clock at the corner of his screen to realize yes, six hours had already passed. He must have spaced out.

He stood abruptly, uncomfortable. "I gotta go." He tried to make for the stairs, but Tadashi reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Where're you going?"

Hiro struggled not to scowl too harshly at Tadashi, reminding himself the boy thought he was still the older brother.

In most cases, he had every right to ask this sort of stuff.

Do this sort of interrogation.

"I…" He realized he was still holding his bot. Hiro put it down. "I was going to…" Having not expected to have to deal with Tadashi, he fumbled for an excuse.

Finally he settled on, "I'm going to go for a walk." He wrenched away and walked down the stairs stiffly. Despite Tadashi's supposed status as older brother, Hiro still disliked being told what to do, or explaining himself.

It was… irritating.

But that was alright - he would put up with it. After all, that's why he was here.

Not to save the world, or save Abigail.

To save Tadashi.

He disliked Callaghan, but he would let the man take his revenge on Krei. After all, the portal would tear itself apart shortly afterwards. There was no need to interfere, unless Callaghan's actions changed in some way that would threaten Tadashi.

Hiro exhaled. Now all he needed to do was get used to living with Tadashi. With the fire problem averted, he would have to get used to the fact this was his life now.

Living with Tadashi.

Living without Big Hero 6.

Hiro sighed. He saved Tadashi, and that's all that mattered. He never needed friends anyway.


End file.
